Ongoing History Daily: Beck was initially embarrassed by “Loser”

“Loser” was the song that first brought our attention to Beck. When it arrived in 1993 as an indie single in the middle of the golden era of grunge, it immediately stood out and became one of the more unlikely hits of the year.

Before its release, Beck was playing at an LA coffeehouse called Jabberjaw as a solo singer with an acoustic guitar. Crowds were really sparse. But one person who stayed and watched was Tom Rothrock, who really liked Beck’s freestyle rapping in the song. Rothrock was a record producer. He knew a guy named Carl Stephenson, who worked with a Houston hip-hop outfit called The Geto Boys. Rothrock put the two of them together.

After a couple of years, “Loser” came together, and Rothrock released 500 copies on his indie label. Beck, however, wasn’t keen on the idea. He was embarrassed by “Loser” because he thought it was too simple and dumb. Turns out he was wrong because by the time it was ready, 90s slack culture was in full swing. It turned out to be the right song at the right time.